


Bedtime Routines

by fourdaysofrain



Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21651346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourdaysofrain/pseuds/fourdaysofrain
Summary: “Tell me a story.”“Once upon a time,” Tony starts, “Your dad saved the universe.”Morgan frowns at that, unamused. “A real story.”“That’s a great story, you’ll be learning about that story once you start school.” Even as he’s saying that, he leans over to the small bookshelf beside her bed and picks a book out. “Where did we leave off with Wilbur and Charlotte then, huh?”Tony starts to flip through the book, looking for the dog-eared page. He opens his mouth to start reading, but before he can start, he hears a thump and muffled footsteps coming from the living room.---Tumblr prompt: Tony's night time routine with two highly active children.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1518650
Comments: 22
Kudos: 282





	Bedtime Routines

**Author's Note:**

> This is totally self-indulgent winter fluff, so be sure to brush your teeth ;)

Tony knows it’s getting late when Morgan doesn’t object to him telling FRIDAY to turn off the television after the movie had finished. He looks over to his side and sure enough, she’s snuffling softly while tucked under his arm. He lets himself relax with the heat of her small body for just a moment as he watches the snow lazily fall outside the window of his Manhattan apartment. He wants to stay in the moment forever, but he’s learned from when she was little that he can’t handle sleeping on couches, no matter how cute she looks. (Well, that is to say, his  _ back _ can’t handle it.) He adjusts her slightly so he has her secure in his arms and starts to stand. 

While he’s standing up, she starts to move against his hip. No dice on the seamless transition from couch to bed, he supposes. Her eyes blink at him, big and brown and full of the purest form of love. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to that.

“Bedtime, little lady,” he says softly, still afraid to break whatever spell was set over the scene. 

She responds with a slow blink and a sigh as she pushes herself further into his chest.

The walk to her bedroom is taken at a slow and comfortable pace. Tony’s still too stubborn to stop carrying his daughter to bed, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before she’ll be too big to carry. Maybe he can go back to the gym and get some muscles. Or put some more motors in his prosthetic. 

Morgan doesn’t speak until Tony has her successfully tucked into her bed. When she does, her small young voice cuts through the soft silence of the wintery night. 

“Tell me a story.”

“Once upon a time,” he starts, “Your dad saved the universe.”

She frowns at that, unamused. “A real story.”

“That’s a great story, you’ll be learning about that story once you start school.” Even as he’s saying that, he leans over to the small bookshelf beside her bed and picks a book out. “Where did we leave off with Wilbur and Charlotte then, huh?”

“At the fair!” At the prospect of a bedtime story, all the residual sleepiness leaves her eyes. Oh, well. It’s not like Tony has anything better to do. 

Tony starts to flip through the book, looking for the dog-eared page. He opens his mouth to start reading, but before he can start, he hears a thump and muffled footsteps coming from the living room. In lieu of reading to Morgan, he quickly puts the book back on the bookshelf and gives her a kiss on the forehead. 

“Stay right here, baby. Daddy just forgot his phone in the other room,” he whispers, not wanting to worry her. She groans at his retreating form but doesn’t say anything else.

Tony walks down the hallway, shaking his prosthetic to make sure it’s online. The small arc reactor in the palm flicks on and lights his path towards the source of the noise. The light is on in the living room. He creeps down the hallway and slowly pokes his head around the corner, right arm ready to fire. But as soon as he scouts the room, he relaxes and enters the room fully. 

“Kid, what’re you doing here?” 

Peter jumps at the noise and turns around, which reveals a small but slowly growing patch of blood on his suit. “Tony? What’re you doing here?”

“Last I checked, this was my apartment,” he says as he grabs a first aid kit from a closet a few feet away. “Now take off the suit and lay on the couch.”

“Mr. Stark,” Peter whines, elongating the vowel, “I don’t want to get blood on your stuff.”

Tony grabs the antiseptic and gauze from the kit. They learned early on that for most injuries, Peter doesn’t need stitches. “On the floor, then. I swear kid, I’m going to invest in those grandma-covers for furniture.”

Peter, ever the polite kid, is laying on the carpet in his boxers by the time Tony’s ready to help him. He gets right to work with cleaning the blood away from the wound, ignoring the creaking in his joints as he leans over the kid. 

“What was it this time, then?”

Peter gives an airy chuckle. “Um, Santa, actually. One of the Red Cross people that like, waves their bell on the street, was trying to mug someone.”

“And you thought you’d just give your favorite superhero a heart attack in his own home?”

Peter grimaces at the sudden chill of the antiseptic. “To be fair, I didn’t realize you’d be here. You should still be at the cabin, I thought you were coming down in a week!”

“Yeah kid, it’s called a surprise visit.” Tony softens his tone. ”We just got here a few hours ago. We were gonna go to your apartment tomorrow for breakfast, May’s in on it.”

Peter smiles at that. “Oh, that’s really sweet.”

“Don’t get a big head.” Tony finished cleaning the stab wound and grabs a strip of gauze. ”Now, why were  _ you _ coming here?”

“Well, Pepper said I could use your guys’ apartment to fix myself up if I didn’t want to freak May out. It’s just a little stab, but still. In the spirit of Christmas and all.”

“Don’t you celebrate Hannukah?”

“Yeah, well. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.” Peter gives a small grin as Tony pats the fresh gauze strip in place. 

“You and Pep are talking behind my back, now?”

Peter huffs at Tony’s offended tone. “More like her and May are. I think it was May’s idea all along, but I haven’t been able to get it out of her yet. Where is Pepper, by the way?” 

“Sleeping soundly in our bedroom, hopefully.” Peter nods in response and then starts to get off the floor. 

“Well, thanks for the patch-up, Mr. Stark,” Peter says as he puts his suit and mask on in one incredibly fluid motion, especially considering the fresh stab wound in his stomach. “But I should head back now before May starts to worry.”

“Nuh-uh,” Tony retorts, shaking his finger. “I need some repayment for my time. Morgan is still up and lacking a bedtime story. She’d love for her bleeding older brother to give her one.”

Peter softens at being referred to as her older brother, just as Tony knew he would. “Okay, but only one chapter. It wasn’t that much blood.” He looks at the new stain on the carpet and grimaces. “Maybe two.”

Tony rolls his eyes. If he had a dollar for every bloodstain the kid left in his wake, he’d probably double his net worth. 

“I’ve got some clothes that might fit you in the guest room,” he says casually, as if they weren’t picked out specifically with Peter in mind. “Change out of your suit before you go in Mo’s room, the blood will scare her.”

Peter nods and trots off to change his clothes while Tony grabs the cleaning supplies and starts to scrub. 

When he finishes cleaning the stain, Tony walks back to Morgan’s bedroom and leans against the doorway. Peter is wearing some flannel pajamas and animately reading from  _ Charlotte’s Web,  _ and Morgan is hanging on to every word. The soft light coming from her lamp makes the whole room look dipped in amber. He can’t help but smile at the scene laid out in front of him. Peter looks over and motions for Tony to come over. Tony’s never been one to let Peter down, so he sits at the foot of Morgan’s bed and listens to the story. 

Once Morgan’s successfully asleep, Tony and Peter carefully leave the room and shut the door behind them. 

“Thanks, kid.” Tony puts an arm around Peter’s shoulder as they head to the guest room so he can change back into the suit. ”Morgan always likes spending some time with you.”

“I like spending time with her, too.” He smirks. “And I really like stories about spiders.”

Tony snorts. “Alright, Spidey.”

He waits outside the room as Peter changes, which only takes a minute. 

When he comes out, Tony frowns at the small slash in the suit. “You can stop by tomorrow afternoon to fix that.”

“Sounds good,” Peter says, checking his web fluid. “Should I act surprised when you guys come over tomorrow?”

Tony considers that for a moment. “I want to say yes for May’s sake, but Morgan will probably give it away.”

“Got it,” Peters says with a curt nod. “We’ll follow her lead, then.”

Tony chuckles at his professional tone and then dramatically checks the time. “Okay, kid. May’s probably wondering where you went. Your stay at  _ Chez Stark _ has come to an end.”

Peter just laughs and heads back towards the living room window he came in from, Tony following closely behind.

“Be sure to watch out for Santa,” Tony calls after Peter as he climbs out the window.

Peter shakes his head, and Tony’s sure he’s rolling his eyes under the mask. “I promise to make it back home safely if you promise to bring those pastries I like to breakfast tomorrow.”

“They’re already packed in the car, kid.”

“Oh, awesome!” Peter checks his web fluid one last time. “See you then, Mr. Stark.”

Before Tony can say his own farewell, Peter gives a jaunty salute and kicks off the outside of the window, flying down to the ground below. Despite himself, he rushes to the window to see Peter wait until the last second to shoot a web and start swinging. He watches him swing until he’s hidden by the skyline. Once he’s out of sight, Tony exhales heavily and starts to walk to his bedroom. His kids are going to be the death of him. 


End file.
